In The Dog's House
by DarkStarShadow
Summary: After a long day outside of Jungle Karma Pizza, RJ returns to find that the loft is occupied while the Rangers are out fighting.
1. I Think She Knows

RJ looked as his watch late one night, walking back to his loft from a long day outside the dojo. He hoped that the Rangers were doing alright without him; unfortunately, the world couldn't revolve around his need to mentor the Rangers during their battles against Dai Shi's minions.

"Ten pm, and they're still fighting?" RJ muttered to himself while continuing down the empty street. "Well, at least their stamina's improving." He smiled and did a little celebration dance on the empty sidewalk. "All my tutoring has paid off..." He muttered to himself, then breaking into a cheery hum as he approached the shop.

A wave of uneasiness fell over him. The shop was closed, but his sixth sense felt something still lingering, which drew his attention to a faint glow coming from inside.

His monitors were on. He had distinctly turned them off before leaving urgently.

Instinct took over and began to process the situation. He silently slipped over to the front door and checked the door handle with the tips of his fingers, then checked the other locks.

Locked, in Fran's method from the looks of it. She had a habit of locking the top lock and the door handle lock, but none of the others.

He unlocked all of them slowly, then crept in. He arched up on his toes and crouched slightly as he examined his surroundings. He softly set the keys in his coat pocket and continued into the kitchen as he held his arms up in preparation to strike.

He kicked the kitchen doors open and charged in, stopping and taking a defensive pose. Empty, and incredibly clean to boot. His eyes darted around to all the small alcoves, his ears locking in to assure him that nothing was moving or breathing in any of them. Again, nothing.

He swooped up the stairs and checked the front door weakly. Locked. The faint sound of the fight a hundred miles away could be heard inside. Besides that, there was no sound of footsteps or general movement. He looked around, and the thought hit him.

He bent at the knees, then jumped up and grabbed hold if the canopy roof's bar, swinging himself around to the top of the canopy in one quick movement. Without losing momentum, he leaped up against the wall and briefly climbed up it with the help of perfectly misaligned bricks and reached the seemingly out of place escape ladder he had installed himself.

He dashed up the ladder to the roof, and to the hidden alcove that led from the vine-covered hole in the wall to the roof. He checked the bolt lock, and saw that it was secure. "Well, at least they remembered this time." He muttered. He then dashed to the back end of the loft on tiptoes, making sure to be as silent as possible.

He gently slid down the back wall and approached the back door. He checked it, and the door gave too much under his soft turn. It was unlocked. "I know this door's always locked, because I don't use it, I've told the others not to use it, and I've always had it locked…hm…" A growl tried to rise in his throat, but he held it back for the moment.

He checked the door handle again, turning it completely open this time. He pushed it forwards, but it felt like something was blocking the door. He took a step back, then kicked at the handle, knocking it out and slamming the door forwards, knocking the chair across the back room. He ran in, his defensive stance prepared and ready. He looked around, finding nothing once more. He was beginning to get impatient…or at least part of him was.

He ran into the main room on the balls of his feet, maintaining stealth as he charged in to reclaim his home, his den. Whoever dared to try and take anything out of his home had better have written their last will, because he was prepared to strike and tear them to pieces.

He charged out to the balcony and took his striking pose, finally letting out an intimidating yell. The room was empty, save for the small area around the monitors. His eyes widened as his instincts dropped off at the sight before him.

Fran sat there in his chair, legs crossed at the knee, her arms lying flat in her lap, wrists crossed. She watched the monitors and looked almost…unnerved. The shout had dislodged her interest in the show and she focused on him, giving a wide, closed mouth smile as his body relaxed from its riled state.

He leaped from the balcony onto the main floor, charging over to his chair with his arms out wide. Fran flinched as he grabbed her and picked her up with ease, moving her outside the circular carpet and sitting her down on the hard gym floor.

"I know you've not been up here before…but stay out of my chair." He scolded.

"…Sorry. I didn't think that was your chair." She got up and brushed herself off.

"It's in my house. It's mine." He snipped, feeling mildly agitated. His sense of self-balance kicked in and he took a deep, calming breath. "Okay…" He panicked internally, but focused on maintaining his cool. "Okay, why are you here?" He asked, pointing at her.

Fran's face contorted in the way it got when she was about to give a long speech. "Well, I closed up shop for the night, and when I left, I saw the lights on inside, so I thought you were finally home, so I rushed up here, but your front door was locked. So I decided to leave, and then I noticed that the back door was wide open, so I came in. I mean, with all the monsters around, maybe somebody decided to do a little breaking and entering, right? So I walked in, and found that it was empty and the TV system there was on. I think it's so cool that you can watch the Power Rangers in their fights."

"Well, as a fellow hater of evil, I can't help but…marvel at their talents." He sheepishly grinned and took a rather proud pose in an effort to shrug off his nervousness. "I do thank you for your concern, but you didn't have to barricade the back door."

"Well, I couldn't lock it, but I wanted to make sure if there were any robbers still around, that they couldn't get in. I guess that kinda backfired, didn't it?" Fran laughed.

"Yeah, quite." RJ replied, scratching the back of his head.

He watched as Fran confidently walked around, surveying the layout of the room. "I never woulda thought you liked to work out." She commented. "I mean, is this how you think up all those…creative pizzas?"

"Well, I…" He slowly came up with a sly answer. "Well, between shooting some hoops and doing a little cleaning, I've thought of quite a few pizzas…not all of them have been successful, though."

"What a shame." She replied.

RJ's mind raced. Was Fran covering her shock with weak conversation like he was? Was she not surprised? She was surprisingly unreadable in this case; he normally could intuitively pick up on her mood or general thoughts, but not this time. Perhaps it was the shock getting to him. "Well, thank you for playing guard, but I'm home and now you can go home!" He began pushing her towards the front door stairway.

"Can I ask you something else?" Fran asked.

"You just did." He replied.

"I mean, about the way you charged in here. It was all…like you were gonna beat me up."

RJ stopped to think. "Well, I didn't have any weapons on me, and if I had to fight someone in my house, I was gonna. Now, go."

"You kinda posed like one of the Rangers."

RJ gave her a quick look of condescension. "You've been watching too much TV. You should probably stick to your books." He stood her in front of the door, unlocked it, then gently pushed her out. "Thank you and goodnight. Have a great day off tomorrow." He smiled, then shut the door in her face.

He turned around and laid against the door, trying to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. Fran grinned and ran off.

Twenty minutes later, the Rangers returned to find the front door of the shop unlocked, the back door kicked in, RJ's area surrounded by incense sticks that were apparently the cause of the horrid smell now pervading the entire loft, and RJ sitting in the middle of the carpet, looking quite perturbed with his tea mug in hand.

Lily was the first to speak up as Casey buried his face in his jacket while Theo looked around to see if anything was missing. "What happened here?"

"…She was in…my chair…" RJ said between sips of his chai. "I need…to purge her energies…from my personal space…"

"She?" Theo asked.

"Fran."

The trio stopped dead in their movements and looked over at RJ.

"Fran was in here?" Theo shouted. "How did she get in here?"

"The back door. She said she found it open, but I always keep it locked, and she was in here watching the monitors even though I had them off when I left. I feel like something is…amiss."

"Doesn't sound right to me either." Theo replied as he sat down outside the rug and stared at the accumulating incense ash.

"Well then she knows we're the Power Rangers now?" Lily asked.

"I think she knows now," RJ replied, finishing off his chai in one long swig. "or maybe she doesn't. It was really spacey talking to her; I couldn't tell what she was thinking."

"Maybe she wa-" Casey started coughing mid-sentence, quickly recovering from the smoke and smell. "Ugh, that incense is rank."

"It's a cleansing incense, for clearing out the energies in an area. I'm purging Fran's aura from the loft as we speak, and focusing my good vibes to step in and settle once more. Please feel free to join in in spreading the aura around when you're done chatting." RJ grabbed his mat that sat outside the ring and sat it down in front of him. "So, as you were saying?"

"I was saying that maybe she was too shocked with the sight." Casey stated.

"I thought that too, but she seemed way calmer than I was, and I'm pretty good with the calm thing."

"A bit too well, sometimes." Theo chided. RJ gave him a look which made him drop the smile he was starting to form.

"Well, she's got tomorrow off, right? We don't have to worry about this until Sunday!" Lily commented.

"But she might come in for a slice or two." Casey replied.

"I shall handle this. All of you are to prepare yourselves for guided meditation. If you don't brighten the loft with your auras, it'll feel weird having you all here." RJ commented. "Oh, and Casey? Get me more of the 'rank smelling' incense, as you put it. These sticks are almost out." He smiled. "Purple ribboned ones, right on your right."


	2. Didn't Sleep At All

Casey walked outside the next morning and unlocked the front door to the pizza shop. Lily walked up to him with a bit of a frown on her face.

"What's up?" Casey asked.

"RJ's been meditating since last night, and he hasn't stopped. I'm a bit worried about him; I mean, he's so deep into it, he's hardly breathing."

"With that incense, I can hardly breathe either. I don't blame him!"

"Hey guys!" They heard Fran's voice calling out from down the street and they panicked. "What? What did I say?"

"Nothing!" Lily blurted. "We're just…surprised to see you here."

"It's your day off. We weren't expecting you." Casey added.

"Well, even if I have the day off, I come early to make sure the Power Rangers and the monster they're fighting didn't crush JKP, you know, to make sure I don't have to like, call my parents and let them know that I'm helping with construction or something and that I might not be home for a while." Fran laughed, snorting in the process. "Well, I guess everything's okay, so I'll just drop in for a slice of cheese to go."

She walked in, but Theo quickly stopped her. "So that's it?" Theo questioned.

"Huh?" She looked completely confused. They grouped around her in a triangle formation and pushed her inside, sitting her at the center table. "What did I do?"

"You were here last night. We know you were. RJ's pretty out of it." Theo began rattling off, not missing a beat.

"I'm sorry! I just left my hat here! I thought I locked all the doors!" She looked terrified and almost in tears. "I hope nothing was stolen!" The trio looked at each other in a questioning manner, then silently agreed on who was going to get RJ. Casey and Lily quickly homed in on Theo, who had started this interrogation in the first place. Theo sighed softly and moped up to the loft while Casey and Lily sat down and tried to console her.

"Nothing was stolen, Fran. In fact, nothing was touched. Somebody just broke into the upstairs loft while we were sleeping, and RJ came home to them being in there." Casey said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"The…loft? Upstairs? I'd never go up there! That's RJ's house, and you're his new tenants, and that would be like breaking and entering against my own friends! I'd never do that! Honest!" Fran pleaded. Her eyes then widened as she sniffled. "I knew that woman looked suspicious!"

"Huh? What woman?" Lily asked.

Upstairs, Theo quickly dashed up the stairs. "RJ! RJ, we need you down…" He saw that RJ was still meditating, and then stopped talking. "Okay…approach him slowly…" He got up close to RJ, and as he went to tap him on the shoulder, RJ grabbed his arm midway between the wrist and elbow.

"I'd like to not be disturbed." RJ spoke in a rather calm tone, eyes still closed in meditation.

"We need you downstairs."

"Aren't we all needed somewhere else at any given time?"

"RJ, this isn't time for existential stuff!"

"It's always time for meditating and trying to create inner focus. Come, sit, there's a few hours before customers arrive-"

"Fran's here, and she's getting upset from our questions."

He opened his left eye and looked over at Theo. "Why are you pestering her?" He gave a rather light push against Theo and set the Blue Ranger stumbling back a bit while he got up. "Whoa, rubbery legs. If I kept that up any longer, I mighta turned into a daruma." He grinned. "I should change my clothes. Stay here, and reflect on my 'existential stuff' through a quick meditation." He stood and waited for Theo to get the hint and take to his meditation mat before going up to his room.

He returned in a pair of grey slacks and a grey teeshirt with a violet undershirt. "Okay, I'm sending the other up. You're to guide them in a deep meditation." He then wandered downstairs, closing the door behind him. 

The trio looked up at him as he sauntered in. He gave Casey and Lily three hand signals in rapid succession: "You two", "Upstairs", and "Meditation". They got the message and left Fran and RJ alone. He sat down on the chair next to Fran's and crossed his legs in the seat. Fran looked down and noticed an oddity.

"You're…barefoot." She stated.

"Yeah. Is that bad? Did you not mop the floor last night?"

Fran's eyes widened. "Of course not! In fact, it's why I was here until 9:30!" RJ noticed her stuffed up tone and jumped up to grab the box of tissues behind the counter that he has always had for her, due to her habit of reading sappy romance novels on Mondays while on break. He sat back down in the chair, setting the box in front of her. "Thanks." She took out a pair of tissues and blew her nose loudly, then took a single issue to wipe her eyes after setting the other one on her lap. She then brought both to the trashcan behind the counter, then sat back down. 

She cleared her throat as RJ began asking her a question. "So why were you here until 9:30? Your shift ends at 9 o'clock."

"Well, see, since everyone just ran off around 8:30, Theo left me with mopping duties." She sounded mildly irritated, but quickly shifted to her normal tone. "So I was mopping, and I noticed that someone must've dropped a Coco Choco Treetop Pizza on the floor earlier today without anyone noticing, because there were banana hunks and fudge stuck to the floor underneath a table. I tried scraping it off with a spatula, but even then I didn't get all of it. So I decided to scrub hard with one of those pan scrubbing things, and that finally did it."

"Ooh, maybe I should use chocolate syrup instead of hot fudge for that one from now on."

"Are you kidding? The sticky gooeyness of the fudge is what pulls everything together on that pizza." Fran stated.

"Really? I thought it was the crushed and candied banana hunks."

"Well, they're both good together…maybe that's what makes it so good." Fran pondered. "We're getting off topic, aren't we?"

"We are." RJ replied.

"Well, before I knew it, it was quarter after nine, and my mopping still wasn't done! So I finished up with the mopping, and then I went to leave around twenty-five after. Then I realized that I forgot my hat, which needed to be washed because I accidentally sat it in the pile of Coco Choco Treetop Pizza that I scraped off the floor. So I came back in, got my hat, and locked back up. That's when I saw this woman-"

"Woman?" RJ asked.

"She was this strange looking woman; she had on this weird red and green outfit, and her hair was in this sort of spiraly braid thing, and her make up, even in just one streetlight, I could tell that she just gobs that eyeshadow on. She looked very suspicious, just wandering around."

RJ knew exactly who she was talking about, and it confirmed the conclusion that he come to during his night-long meditation.

"I called out to her and said the store was closed, but I offered to warm something up for her. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be. At JKP, we strive to serve the customer above and beyond one's normal pizza restaurant. But go on."

"So, she turned around and looked a little more nervous when she realized that I had seen her. She began to run towards the back alley and I followed her, but by the time I got there, she was already gone. She must've jumped on top of the garbage can and hopped the fence. So, I just left and went home after I locked up the doors. I guess I should've stayed, huh?"

"No, you did a good job chasing her off." He patted her on the shoulder and smiled.

Meanwhile, in a place far away…

"So after the human they call 'Fran' wandered off, I dropped out of invisibility. And then, inspiration struck me. I decided to camouflage myself as the bumbling idiot, so that if the Rangers were to return they would simply think their co-worker had somehow wandered in on accident."

Camille smiled, in a terrified manner, hoping that her story so far appeased Dai Shi. He made a humored noise and gave a soft upturn of the corners of his mouth, which gave her confidence. 

"So after I took this form, I unlocked the back door using what they call a 'bobby pin', and I unlocked the back door. I then set up a chair behind the door as a way to hear if anyone tried coming in that way, because I couldn't re-lock the door. I found their communications center easily, and began watching the fight between Beatalix and the Rangers on it. It's a very crude technology, but fairly powerful."

She cleared her throat as he glared at her. "That's when I was surprised by a strong aura approaching the building. Their boss, the one they call 'RJ', appears to also be their new master. I could feel his presence through the walls as he began checking all of the doors; he definitely knew I was inside spying. His aura just grew stronger and stronger as he searched, I was rather impressed. He felt stronger than the three Rangers put together."

"Did you two fight?" He asked.

"I tried to talk my way out of the building, while gathering all the information I could. It would seem highly suspicious if his employee suddenly beat him in a fight." As he stood up, she panicked. "Besides, once he spotted me, his aura suddenly dropped off. It was like the sight of his employee completely drove the fight out of him. I wouldn't want to fight someone who wasn't fighting properly. And the Rangers! Their fight was nearly over, and before our fight was over, they would have been back and would've ambushed me! I thought it was the best idea to just survey everything like you wanted me to, then come back."

He towered over her and then leaned forwards, making her lean back and widen her gaze. "I should skin you and hang your husk up on a mantle for not destroying this 'RJ' when you had the chance."

"I promise that I will strike him down if we should be again, Dai Shi. Just say the word."

"Why should I trust you to carry out that task, when you can't even properly pick a Rinshi to crush these pathetic children parading around in colorful suits? If I wanted to waste some time, I'd crush you and turn you back to into dust!" Dai Shi roared. Camille's heart skipped a beat in terror as his face twisted from a livid scowl to a sinister grin. "But you, somehow, are right about one thing. I told you to get information on their headquarters, and you did. It took you far too long to fulfill this task, but considering that you came back in one piece with the proper information, I should consider this somewhat of a success. Now, tell me everything you learned about them."

"Of course, Dai Shi."

Back at JKP…

"Well, I believe you. I mean, the girl looked a lot like you, but she certainly acted a little off. My apologies if the guys mobbed you."

"Oh no, it's okay. I mean, if you guys thought I was the intruder, you guys have every right to find out why I was here…even if it wasn't me." Fran weakly smiled.

"Well, I'm glad everything's settled. I'll let them know to not bug you about it, and you can go home."

"I came in to get a slice of Cheesy Cheesy Pizza anyways before they mobbed me."

"Alright." He got up and made his way for the stairs, with Fran slowly following behind him. He stopped and thought for a moment, causing Fran to walk into him. "You know what? I'll make you a pan pizza, and you stay here for the day. How's that sound?"

"Do you want me to work overtime with no pay? I wouldn't mind if you did."

"No, just…relax. We all need to just relax today. In fact…" He walked up to the front entrance and locked it. "Everybody gets a day off." He walked back into the kitchen and began making her pizza.

Fran sat down in her usual chair, straight in front of the bookcase RJ had set in the shop for her several months ago. She smiled happily and hummed a tune as she waited; RJ was in a rather cheery mood, despite the events of the prior night. She grabbed one of her books and began to read. After a few minutes, he returned with a small pizza cooked to perfection with six different cheeses piled high. Fran smiled as she dug into the pizza and he quickly rushed upstairs.

The trio turned around at the sound of his footsteps. He began to speak as they turned around to see who it was. "So during my meditation, I realized something interesting about myself. Camille was here last night, disguised as Fran. You are all disguised as a bunch of kids who're new to town looking for a job. I myself disguise myself as a mild-mannered pizza chef from time to time. And Fran…she disguises herself as a somewhat unassuming employee of mine."

"What else is she supposed to be?" Casey asked.

"Well, she could be a very useful ally. Camille obviously doesn't take her for granted if she thought it was a good idea to disguise herself as Fran, am I right?" The trio looked at each other in confusion. "I think it's time somebody around here stopped hiding. And hey, I'm a pretty honest guy. Consider this today's lesson: looks are deceiving, and the only cure is honesty." Their eyes opened wide as he walked over to his mat. "Right now, we're going to meditate. Later, we will be honest."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Theo commented.

"Do we ever really know what we're doing? All we can do is hope for the best." RJ sighed deeply as he slowly dropped into a meditative state.

Downstairs, Fran grabbed the napkin underneath her plate and noticed that the napkin had some writing on it. "Hm? What's this?" She looked it over, and it appeared to be a note.

_When you're done, come on upstairs. We'll be waiting._

Fran blushed lightly, then devoured the rest of her pizza.


End file.
